The Next Chapter of the Legendary “Star Trek” TV Franchise Will Premiere on the CBS Television Network, Then Move to CBS All Access Digital Subscription Service

Alex Kurtzman, Co-Writer and Producer of the Blockbuster Films

“Star Trek” and “Star Trek Into Darkness,” to Executive Produce

CBS Studios International to Distribute the Series Globally

For Television and Multiple Platforms

STUDIO CITY, CALIF. AND NEW YORK, N.Y. – Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

The next chapter of the “Star Trek” franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television station live for $5.99 per month. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous “Star Trek” television series.

The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new “Star Trek” TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films “Star Trek” (2009) with Roberto Orci, and “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.

The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series SCORPION and LIMITLESS, along with Kadin and Orci, and for HAWAII FIVE-0 with Orci.

“Star Trek,” which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, is one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. The original “Star Trek” spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series. Almost half a century later, the “Star Trek” television series are licensed on a variety of different platforms in more than 190 countries, and the franchise still generates more than a billion social media impressions every month.

Born from the mind of Gene Roddenberry, the original “Star Trek” series debuted on Sept. 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons – a short run that belied the influence it would have for generations. The series also broke new ground in storytelling and cultural mores, providing a progressive look at topics including race relations, global politics and the environment.

“There is no better time to give ‘Star Trek’ fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager – CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic ‘Star Trek,’ and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

“Every day, an episode of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise is seen in almost every country in the world,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group. “We can’t wait to introduce ‘Star Trek’s’ next voyage on television to its vast global fan base.”

CBS All Access offers its customers more than 7,500 episodes from the current television season, previous seasons and classic shows on demand nationwide, as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live in more than 110 markets. Subscribers can use the service online and across devices via CBS.com, the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 10, as well as on connected devices such as Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku players and Roku TV, with more connected devices to come.

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film “Star Trek Beyond,” which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016

No link, story was all over yesterday so not hard to find: Fuller stepped down as show runner, citing his schedule (he's also running American Gods on starz, which honestly I'm more interested in seeing anyway).

He is a busy guy, but this just looks like a disaster. First the delays, now this. It smells like CBS suits screwing with production. They're supposed to start shooting in a few weeks, still zero cast announcements and now Fuller is taking on a much-reduced role. How can this be good in any way?

Word is that the suits at CBS were stepping on Fuller's toes and he just walked away. As I've said all along, this is a very bad idea in terms of launching on CBS All Access only in the US. They'd have been much smarter to partner up with Amazon or Netflix (their X-US distributor) to create a show that fans would love to see.

Instead, they've boxed themselves into an incredibly difficult situation and the talent has begun to walk away, long before the show has even been cast.

Word is that the suits at CBS were stepping on Fuller's toes and he just walked away. As I've said all along, this is a very bad idea in terms of launching on CBS All Access only in the US. They'd have been much smarter to partner up with Amazon or Netflix (their X-US distributor) to create a show that fans would love to see.

Instead, they've boxed themselves into an incredibly difficult situation and the talent has begun to walk away, long before the show has even been cast.

Viacom/CBS/Paramount are an epic disaster.

I think you are being very generous with your 15% chance at it not being a disaster. What a bunch of idiots.

I think you are being very generous with your 15% chance at it not being a disaster. What a bunch of idiots.

Maybe so.

I heard this morning that they've basically given full control over to Alex Kurtzman, who produced, along with Abrams, the latest batch of movies. While I liked the initial reboot film, I disliked the second film so much that I haven't even bothered with the third.

The other rumor is that Kurtzman is bringing in Akiva Goldsman, whom he worked with on Fringe. While I really enjoyed several seasons of Fringe and the original concept, it went way off the tracks in the final two season (and the first season was up and down, as if they couldn't figure out if they wanted to be an original show or a clone of the X-Files).

The bottom line is that to me, there's way too much chaos happening around a program that's supposed to begin airing in May 2017. I think they need to step back, reassess and shoot for a January 2018 debut at the earliest.

Knowing Paramount though, they'll make the wrong decision and muck it up.

Oh yeah, the other bit of info, which I found rather surprising, is that they're planning to spend $6-7 million per episode, which puts a 13 episode season at somewhere between $78 and $91 million per. That's up there with HBO's budget, so their deal with Netflix must provide the bulk of that money, as they'd need a minimum of 13 million paid subscriptions to CBS All Access in order to break even.

It's not known what character Yeoh will play, but it's likely she's going to be the star.

Nicholas Meyer has let it slip that Michelle Yeoh has joined the cast of the upcoming CBS show Star Trek: Discovery. The show's consulting producer dropped the bombshell while talking to ComingSoon about the Blu-ray of his classic movie, Time After Time. While Meyer wouldn't confirm what role Yeoh had taken, it's entirely plausible that she's going to be the shows star, the as-yet unnamed "Number One."

Well before Bryan Fuller announced that he was stepping back from his duties on the show, he outlined his vision for Discovery. He explained that his vision for the show would center upon a Lt. Commander of a starship rather than the captain, and that he wanted the character to be a woman. Speculation immediately pointed towards Angela Basset and Rosario Dawson, both of whom Fuller had previously praised.

It's possible that with Dawson and Bassett both tied in to shooting Marvel-based adventures in the near future, neither had space in their schedule. Then again, there are six more characters that need to be cast, so it's just as likely that Bassett and Dawson may find the time to head out to the 2250s.

My initial thought is that they're aiming at Chinese and Asian audiences. Would that fall under the Netflix umbrella? All Access is North America only as I recall, and the US and Canada are literally the only places that won't be able to watch on netflix.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon‘s Michelle Yeoh is heading into the final frontier with Star Trek: Discovery. Sources confirm to Deadline that the upcoming CBS All Access iteration of the fabled franchise will see Yeoh playing a Starfleet Captain.

However, before you start mapping out the deck of the Discovery, sources close to the production tell us exclusively that Yeoh will actually be the leader of another ship. We hear that Yeoh has been cast as Han Bo and her ship is the Shenzhou. The Yeoh-run spacecraft is set to play a big role in Discovery‘s first season.

Yeoh is the first revealed cast member on the series, which marks the return of Star Trek to scripted television for the first time since Star Trek Enterprise ended its run in 2005.

Casting Yeoh, one of Asia’s biggest stars of the past three decades, underscores the global appeal the producers of Star Trek: Discovery are going for with the new series, which is being distributed in 188 countries outside of the US and Canada by Netflix.

Major plot and character details about Star Trek Discovery have not been revealed. It is known however that it will take place approximately 10 years before the events of the original series, and that the lead character will be a young woman, likely non-white, serving as a lieutenant commander aboard the Federation starship Discovery, known to her crewmates as “Number One.” This raises the possibility that the character is second in command on the ship, as “number one” is the designation given to two previous Trek first officers: Majel Barrett’s character on the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage”, and William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This will be the first Star Trek series where the main character is not the commanding officer, though not all main characters have been full captains, as the Avery Brooks-portrayed Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine started with the rank of commander before being promoted to Captain in season 3. Series co-creator and producer Bryan Fuller has frequently emphasized the show’s commitment to diversity, confirming at TCA last summer that there will be at least one gay character, and has also said there will be both familiar and new alien races.

Fuller co-created Star Trek: Discovery with Alex Kurtzman and served as showrunner until last month when he stepped down from the role, handing the Captain’s chair to his numbers twos, Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts. Earlier this fall, Star Trek: Discovery‘s launch had been pushed from January to May 2017.

News that Michelle Yeoh had come aboard Star Trek: Discovery was first revealed in an interview with consulting producer Nicholas Meyer, published by Coming Soon, which provided no information about her character.

CBS has now officially announced the first three cast members of its “Star Trek: Discovery” TV series. Michelle Yeoh, who was linked last week, is now officially set and will be joined by Doug Jones (“Hellboy”) and Anthony Rapp (“Rent”).

Yeoh will play Captain Georgiou of the Federation starship Shenzou. Rapp will play Lieutenant Stamets, a science officer on the U.S.S. Discovery who specializes in an astromycology (space fungus). Jones will play Lieutenant Saru, a Starfleet science officer and a member of an alien species new to the franchise. His character isn’t attached to a particular starship. No other details about the roles were revealed.

Further casting for the series is expected in coming days. “Star Trek: Discovery” is currently set to premiere in May.